Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Additional Papers of Hans Schmitt, Accession #12799-e, -f, -g, -h, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

These additions to the papers of Hans A. Schmitt were given to the University of Virginia Library by Hans A. Schmitt, Charlottesville, Virginia, between January 20 and March 15, 2005.

Biographical/Historical Information

Hans A. Schmitt was born in 1921 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and was raised in Frankfurt and Berlin until he was sent by his mother, Elisabeth Schmitt, who was Jewish, to a Quaker school now known as International School Eerde, The Netherlands, which he attended 1934-1937. He began college at Washington and Lee in the late 1930s, continuing with graduate study of history at the University of Chicago, where he received his A.M. at Chicago in 1943.

After becoming an American citizen, he joined the army, and served in army intelligence in Europe. Following the war he married Florence Arlene Brandow and earned his Ph.D. in 1953. His various academic jobs began at the University of Oklahoma and continued at Tulane, New York University, and the University of Virginia.

Schmitt was elected University of Virginia Professor Emeritus of History, 1991 May. He was a member of the faculty at the University of Virginia from 1971-1991. He was the author of six books; his first book The Path to European Union: From the Marshall Plan to the Common Market which won the George Louis Beer Prize from the American Historical Association.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of the additional papers of Hans A. Schmitt (1921-2006), emeritus Professor of History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, ca. 4,158 items (9 Hollinger boxes, 4 linear shelf feet) 1934-2004.

The papers contain correspondence of the Schmitt and Hamburger families including letters to his parents, correspondence with and about Gerhard Anschütz; correspondence concerning business in Berlin; Schmitt's correspondence with publishers; correspondence with doctoral students together with files on job offers and publications; and correspondence, 1993-1997 concerning Schmitt's book Quakers and Nazis .

Also included are: a photocopy of a typescript diary by Katharina Petersen, head mistress of Quäkerschule Eerde, Eerde, Netherlands, 1934-1937; postcards and letters, 1943-1944, written from the concentration camps Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch (a.k.a. Kamp Vught) near 's-Hertogenbosch, and Westerbork near Hooghalen by Hermann Isaac (died in Auschwitz on January 21, 1945) and Vincent [Weyand?] to Dr. Elisabeth Schmitt and Richard Schmitt, Ommen, Netherlands. A frequent correspondent of Schmitt's later correspondence is Jack Sutters of The American Friends Service Committee. Most of the correspondence in the collection written prior to World War II is in German.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder heading and chronologically within the folders, and grouped into three series. The first series consists of seven boxes containing materials relevant to his activities as an author and Professor of History at the University of Virginia. The second series (Box 8) contains materials relevant to the period prior to World War II, primarily consisting of family correspondence between his parents and grandparents, but also including correspondence from former students in concentration camps. The third series (Box 9) contains materials relevant to Quäkerschule Eerde (Quaker School, Eerde).